


Rose Siblings

by emjam



Series: Rose Siblings [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Arcades, Awkwardness, Crying, Episode: s06e03 Rose Buds, Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, Funland (Steven Universe), Gen, Grief/Mourning, Identity Issues, Let Steven be Angry 2020, Name Changes, Sibling Bonding, Steven Universe Future, Steven Universe Future Spoilers, the beach
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:02:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21938659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emjam/pseuds/emjam
Summary: “We could start with one at a time? One of the less, uh, similar-looking Rose Quartz, to see if you’re up for it?” Steven had to resist putting indents where his hands curled over the edge of the van. He could do this without his dad, but…Greg mulled it over, watching the bluish shadows from the sunset stretch out to meet the van. “Ah, what the hell,” he finally shrugged. “I’ll do it for you, Stu-ball. And it might even be fun!”[Steven decides he wants to know the three Rose Quartzes better, and he brings his dad along for the ride.]
Relationships: Greg Universe & Steven Universe, Steven Universe & Hippie Rose Quartz, Steven Universe & Shy Rose Quartz, Steven Universe & Superfan Rose Quartz
Series: Rose Siblings [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1870126
Comments: 33
Kudos: 192





	1. Might Even Be Fun

“Hey dad?”

Greg dropped the overflowing sponge back into its bucket of soapy water, inspecting the hood of the car he’d been washing. “What’s up, Stu-ball?”

Steven took a few steps closer. He brought up a palm to grasp at the gem that made slight outlines beneath his shirt. A lot of things were painful right now. A lot of things made him angry. But this was something he didn’t want to… blow up at, or become consumed with pink-hot rage over. That feeling had been getting more familiar recently in the worst ways possible.

He was Steven. He was supposed to _fix_ things. He was having trouble building his usual bridges right now, but maybe he could still build bridges for this.

“Um…” The pavement was a shocking white when met with the strong sunlight. Steven blinked at it a few times, and also at his dad’s back. “You remember the Ro- the pink Quartzes, right?”

“Oh boy,” Greg muttered under his breath. He scratched his neck with a sudsy hand and turned around. “Yeah. I figured you would wanna talk about that.” He gave an uneasy smile. Nevertheless, he gestured his son over. “Come on, this seems like a back-of-the-van chat to me.”

* * *

“They really all got bubbled, huh?”

“Yeah.”

Greg stared into the middle distance hidden within the opposite wall of the van. “For looking like her?”

Steven nodded.

Greg grimaced. “Yeesh.”

They were sitting in the van at the point where the doors yawned open to the interior. The edge of the vehicle dug slightly into Steven’s legs, but he wasn’t really up for moving himself. He kicked his legs above the ground, lightly grazing the asphalt below with his sandalled feet. His hands gripped the van’s edge. “I know.” It was just something else, something more about Pink, and Steven wanted to lay down for a very long time and maybe be a human kid for once. “I know,” he repeated. “I… I talked to them a bit. They were really nice. And they understood why I was so awkward about meeting them.”

“Really? I gotta say, I didn’t expect _that_.”

“Yeah.” Steven shrugged. “The one that looked - the one with the curly hair actually understood it first, and then I had a little talk with the others. I figured all four of us were made by her, in a way. And then she left them behind.” Steven looked across the street, away from his dad. “I guess I can relate.”

Suddenly, Steven felt warm arms around him.

“You’re doing a great job, kiddo,” Greg sighed, out of sight.

“R-really? With what?” Inexplicably, heat pricked at Steven’s eyes.

“It’s not easy to deal with what Rose left behind.” Greg let his son go to give Steven some space, but kept an arm around him. “And what she left behind… was a mess,” he said with a faint laugh.

“Yeah! It’s such a mess!” Steven exclaimed, raising his arms, tears beginning to fall. Where had those even come from? “And I have to clean it up. And I _keep_ cleaning it up.” He brought his arms down to cross them in front of his chest. “It’s supposed to be over.” Pushed-down anger bubbled up, boiling just beneath his skin and running wildly through him. “But now there’s three Rose Quartzes that aren’t supposed to be able to mess with my feelings because they _aren’t mom,_ but for some reason I had to go and ruin half their night because I was too uncomfortable to be in the same room with Gems that are completely different people from my mom!”

Greg was carefully silent. Then, with deliberate word choice, he said, “Uh, Steven, are you alright?”

That was fear. It was slight, but there.

To Steven’s despair, he had a sinking feeling as to why. He looked down. His arms, clamped into a twisted fold, were harshly ablush. So were his legs, and presumably his face. His entire form was alight with overwhelming anger, eating at his skin and burning him down to a vibrant pink. Embarrassment flushed his cheeks, washing away the anger and replacing it with tired worry. Slowly, the rosy pigment faded.

“Sorry. It’s… been happening sometimes? When I get angry?” Steven shook his head. “I don’t know. I wish I knew.” Another tear slipped down his cheek.

“It’s alright to be mad, Steven,” Greg said. When Steven looked over to him, his dad looked tired. “There’s every reason in the world - heck, the whole _universe_ \- to be mad. No one will blame you.” Greg slapped a hand to his own face. “I think I’m just now starting to be upset about a few things I should’ve been upset about _years_ ago!”

“But how can I be mad when everything’s okay now?” Steven groaned. “I shouldn’t be so hurt about a few people that look like someone I never even met...”

“Just because things seem okay now, doesn’t mean stuff that already happened doesn’t hurt you anymore.” Greg took a sip of his can of soda. “You gotta process that hurt to move past it. I dunno, am I making sense?” He suddenly sounded unsure of his own advice.

_You have to be honest about how bad it feels so you can move on._ Connie had said that a long time ago. Steven wiped his tear-streaked face. “I think I understand. But I still don’t know how to do it.” He never really could fully commit to that idea. A lot of things felt bad, but in different ways, and they coalesced into a coal of fire in his gut and he didn’t know what to _do about it_.

“I think talking about it like this is a good start.”

Greg looked out at the setting sun for a moment, so Steven did too. He looked up at his dad, and then leaned over to flop into his dad’s side with a sigh. The weight of his dad’s arm along his back was real and comforting.

“You know I love you, right, Steven?”

Steven closed his eyes. Anger was tiring. “I know. You love me, and so does Garnet, and Pearl, and Amethyst, and other people, and I love all of you guys too.”

“We all love you. And you don’t have to feel one way or another about anything. Being angry is okay, okay?”

“Okay, dad.” Steven smiled a small, worn-out smile as the sunset burned bright red against his closed eyelids.

“Okay.” Steven couldn’t see it, but he could hear his dad’s returning smile. “Anything else come up about the Quartzes? I know we went off on a tangent there.”

“Oh, yeah.” Reluctantly, Steven sat straight up again, letting his dad’s hand fall back down and off of him. “I want to get to know them. I feel bad about my first impression.”

“Are you sure?” Greg blinked. “They _are_ a bit frightening… They just look so… Eesh.” He shuddered.

“I know, but I’m pretty sure I want to see them again. They’re more than just Rose Quartzes, or what Rose did.” _Just like me_. “They’re their own Gems, and I want to know them. Besides, we’re practically siblings!” A light, youthful smile sprouted on Steven’s face - one that was so uniquely Steven. “Sibs from different cribs,” he joked, accompanied by finger guns.

“Ha! I guess so,” Greg managed to laugh. “So what are you gonna do? Go to Funland with them or something?”

“Hmm…” Steven rubbed his chin. “That’s a great idea, but I was thinking of just starting with a nice lunch together. No awkward tension this time. Just honesty and hopefully some fun!”

“You’ve managed to turn the most out-there people into good friends, Steven. I’m sure you’ll do great. Let me know how it goes, though, okay?”

“Well, actually, I wanted to invite you!” Steven said, finally finding a way to dredge up some of his trademark optimism. “You’re my dad, they’re my sisters, you’re kinda like their… stepdad, I guess.” And he didn’t want to do this completely alone. He also had a weird feeling about leaving his dad out of this. The mental image of Steven and a bunch of Rose Quartzes, and dad not even being there with him… it felt othering, and, in a way that Steven struggled to identify (much like many other twisting feelings that he’d felt lately), bad. Steven never wanted his life to be half-Gem, half-human. He wanted it to be one big family. “Meet the Quartz side of the Quartz-Universes!”

Steven watched tension pull uncomfortably at his dad’s face. “I dunno, kiddo.” He fiddled with the tab of his soda. “I know it’s been a long time, but…”

“We could start with one at a time? One of the less, uh, similar-looking Rose Quartz, to see if you’re up for it?” Steven had to resist putting indents where his hands curled over the edge of the van. He could do this without his dad, but…

Greg mulled it over, watching the bluish shadows from the sunset stretch out to meet the van. “Ah, what the hell,” he finally shrugged. “I’ll do it for you, Stu-ball. And it might even be fun!”

“Yeah!” Steven chirped with delight. “That’s the spirit! Fun!” He raised his arms in victory.

Unable to help himself, Greg laughed, mirroring the way his son had lifted his hands into the air with happiness.

Steven laughed too. Maybe this could help both of them move on.


	2. Strawberry Ice Cream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this installment features what the creators dubbed "Superfan Rose" - the one that considered Steven a hero!

“Okay, I think we’re all set!” Steven called, checking his pockets to make sure he had Earth money on him. Even though Gems were becoming more incorporated into Beach City with every passing day, human residents still needed to make a profit off of their businesses… which was a bit hard to explain to fresh-out-of-the-corruption-bubble Gems that wanted to experience absolutely everything.

With a small exhale - everything would be fine - Steven slapped the legs of his shorts. He’d been to Funland so many times before, and he even had the right outfit for it. Nice, comfy tan shorts, an old t-shirt he didn’t mind getting ice cream on, and a creaseless pink button-down to make a nice second impression. But he was still nervous.

His dad jumped out of the back of his parked van, sneakered feet clapping onto the pavement. Must be done getting ready. Steven heard the back doors slam shut and watched his dad come up to him.

“You sure about this, Steven?” Greg was also dressed in comfortable, loose clothing for a day at Funland. The tank top and shorts didn’t show their usual “crumpled up in the back of a van” dishevelment though, so maybe Greg put more thought into it than Steven would’ve assumed.

Steven nodded. “It’ll be fun, dad! How can something go wrong at a place called _Funland_?”

“I almost lost a baby there once,” Greg muttered absentmindedly, straightening his shirt. “But alright. Let’s go.”

The walk to Funland was short and quiet. Soon enough, they were in front of its entrance, where they had promised to meet one of the Rose Quartzes.

“Hmm… I don’t see her.” Steven scanned the environment with a hand to shield himself from the sun. “How about you, dad?”

“Uh… is that her over by Admissions?”

Steven wheeled his sight over to the Admissions table. Sure enough, a large, pink Gem was animatedly discussing something with the bored Admissions attendant. “Yeah! That’s her!” He took a step in her direction, then looked back. His dad was reserved and motionless, looking away from the Gem they had wanted to meet.

Resolve hardened within Steven. He wanted this to be okay. He wanted to fix it. And he wanted to know these Quartzes, damn it. He reached out and threaded his hand into his dad’s. “You okay, dad? We can back out.”

Greg seemed to struggle with himself for a moment - but only a moment. He looked down at their joined hands. “Okay, sure, why not. Let’s go say hi!”

“Alright!” Steven led the way, tugging his father along to Admissions. “Hey! Rose Quartz!” His voice cracked on the last syllable.

The Quartz in question stopped harassing the attendant and gave a large pile of tickets back to him. She quickly turned around, excitement ablaze in her eyes. “Oh! Hi, Steven! And Steven’s dad! You’re Greg, right? Gosh, I am so excited! I can’t wait to see more about Earth! It’s so different from what I remember.”

Steven and Greg blinked at her. Slowly, Steven unstuck his hand from that of his frozen dad and waved. “It’s nice to see you again, Rose Quartz! Yes, this is my dad, and yes, we’re gonna have fun!” Solid determination shone through in Steven’s words. This was going to be fun if he had to _make_ it fun.

“Hi there!” Greg finally said. “Um, what were you doing with all those?” He pointed to the table behind them all, referring to a large pile of admission tickets that sat there, a few of which fluttered like neon orange butterflies down to the ground. Uncaring, the attendant just wiped his eyes and sighed.

“Oh, those!” This Rose Quartz was easily distracted. “This human here was just letting me look at all of the tickets he has stored away in his station. They’re all made of the same material but none of them are exactly the same. Look!” She bluntly grabbed a fistful of tickets, bending the cardstock.

Peering close, Steven and Greg couldn’t see a difference. It was just a sea of orange. Maybe she could actually feel the individual differences between sheets of paper?

“No indents in one ticket are exactly the same as the other one.” She ran a finger down a few strips of tickets. “It’s so… cool!”

Lowly, Steven murmured to Greg, “If she’s this excited about the tickets, she’s gonna love the inside of Funland.”

Greg nodded. “Rose Quartz?” he said, with impressive resolve.

She dropped the load of tickets back onto the messy and disheveled pile. “Yes?”

He took a deep breath. “Let’s get you into that amusement park!”

The Quartz’s eyes lit up with enough energy to power the planet.

* * *

“Ohh, nicknames! Like the Famethyst back on the cruise ship. They all have nicknames.”

“Yeah!” Steven shook out his hands and picked up the plastic ring again. “A lot of Gems are picking out new names for themselves nowadays to separate them from other Gems of the same make.” Carefully, he stuck out his tongue and frisbee-tossed the ring. It bounced off of the rim of an empty bottle instead of landing squarely around it. “Man, I just can’t get this.”

“Let your old man show you some moves, Steve-o.” Greg grabbed another ring and focused, lining up his shot just right.

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, you can do it, legend’s dad!” Rose Quartz jumped up and down behind them.

“I, uh… okay,” Greg said lamely. He double-checked his distance and smoothly threw the ring. Despite the nerves that Rose Quartz caused, the ring struck a bottle rim at just the right angle and caught, spinning around the body of the bottle. A perfect shot.

“Woo!” Steven cheered. “Go dad!”

“Yeah, go dad!” Rose Quartz agreed, apparently not completely understanding the meaning of the term despite using it correctly earlier. Steven wasn’t sure whether to laugh or grimace at that.

“Heh, yeah!” Greg smiled, hands on his hips. He didn’t look like he was in too much pain about this outing so far, which was a plus in Steven’s book. “What’d I win?”

The game attendant stood on their toes and grabbed the midsection of a large purple stuffed dog, bringing it down from its hanging display. “Here you go, sir.” They passed it over to its winner.

“Neat!” Greg grabbed the toy. “Thanks!”

He had to carry it with both arms as they continued through Funland. “You know, this thing is actually kinda big. I’m not sure if I’ll have space for it in my van. Any interest, Steven?”

Steven laughed when his dad pushed the huge stuffed animal into his arms. “Ha, I don’t know if I’ll have space either. I have a lot of stuffed animals already.”

“Wow, can I touch it?” Rose Quartz asked with shining awe. “It looks so soft!”

“Sure! Knock yourself out.” Steven passed it to her. It was comically large for Steven and Greg, but for a Quartz like her it was more of a reasonable size. It was still large enough for her to have her hands full wrapping them around it.

“All the individual furs on this thing are crazy!” She examined the dusted purple color intensely. “They’re sticking up all over the place! What animal is this supposed to look like?”

“A dog,” Steven said.

“A dog? What’s that?”

Greg answered. “Oh, they’re kinda like the toy, but they don’t actually come in purple.” Usually. Unless Amethyst is doing it. “They’re, uh, they have four legs, and they’re fuzzy, and they don’t speak our language.”

Rose Quartz gasped. “How do you speak to them then?”

She really was kind of like a child, Steven realized. But it looked like his dad didn’t mind her innocent questions.

“We figured it out, kind of. We teach them the meanings of some words so that we can tell them things, like that we’re taking them on a walk, or that they’re getting food. We also give them names that they know.”

“Yeah, names!” Rose Quartz turned the stuffed animal around in her hands to gaze into its plastic eyes. “What’ll your name be?”

“You can keep it if you want,” Steven offered.

“Really?! Oh my gosh, thank you so much!”

A warm, fuzzy feeling grew within Steven.

* * *

After an intense experience on the newly-rebuilt rollercoaster, the three of them headed toward the ice cream booth.

“Man, I’m all tired out. I’m super ready for this ice cream,” Steven sighed. “D’you like eating, Rose Quartz?”

“I think it’s so interesting, how it just disappears into your face-hole like that! I also like tasting stuff. I never knew tongues could feel things. Those carrots you had were really fun. But I’m not really sure what counts as food and as not-food? I might need some help on that front.”

Steven laughed. “Ice cream is pretty simple. Usually the whole thing’s edible, even the container you carry it in.” They were fast approaching the booth, and now they could see the ice cream waffle cones stacked up on display, so Steven pointed them out. “See those? They hold the ice cream, but you can eat them too. I mean, I think Gems can actually eat anything - I’ve seen Amethyst eat a lot of non-food stuff - but those cones right there are definitely edible.”

“Neat! What do you think I should get?” Rose Quartz rushed up to the glass and stared at the flavors encased inside, replying to the vendor’s greeting with a belated “oh, hi.” If she weren’t clutching a large stuffed dog, Steven figured she would probably be pressed right against the glass.

“That’s not really up to me,” Steven shrugged. “What do you want to get?” He watched as she perused the arrangement of ice cream. He knew those Rose Quartzes weren’t Mom, but he had still been worried about meeting them again. To his pleasant surprise, though, it wasn’t that hard to separate these Gems from _that_ Gem. This Rose Quartz was nothing like the one Steven was brought up to know. She came off as younger and more excitable. She had mom’s curiosity, he supposed, but none of the Diamond baggage that came with it. She was free to just be her own Rose Quartz, whatever that meant to her.

“Hmm… I think I want st-rawberry.” She pronounced the word oddly, forming the syllables in awkward chunks. “It’s pink, like us, Steven!”

“Haha, it is!” Pink like us. _Us._ Steven grinned. “Two strawberry, please. What do you want, dad?”

“Eh, I dunno, vanilla?”

“Come on,” Steven protested, “You got vanilla last time!”

“Yeah, Dad Greg, you should get strawberry with us!” Rose Quartz added.

“Straw-berry ice-cream,” Steven started chanting, and Rose Quartz joined in. “Straw-berry ice-cream, straw-berry ice-cream, straw-berry ice-cream!”

“Okay, okay, I’ll get strawberry, you lunatics,” Greg laughed. He gave in, adding a strawberry cone to their order and giving money to the employee - a large yellow Gem with short, curly hair.

Rose Quartz watched the Gem scoop out their ice creams with deliberation. “Do you like doing that?”

“What, scooping ice cream?” The Gem said. “Yeah, I’m having a good time! I like giving humans their treats, and it’s always fun to see other Gems eating this for the first time.” She topped the last of the three cones and handed them all to their customers, noting the look on the Rose Quartz’s face. “First time?” She smiled lightheartedly.

“You know it!” Rose Quartz responded brightly. “Oh! Can we do that thing we saw those humans do with their drinks in that movie?”

“A… cheers?” Steven asked, furrowing his brow in confusion.

“Yeah!” She said.

“I don’t see why not,” Greg conceded. “Cheers, you little gremlins!” He put his ice cream out away from his body.

“Cheers!” Steven and Rose Quartz exclaimed, shoving their ice creams against Greg’s, forming a circle of pink.

The yellow Gem watched with pride as Rose Quartz took her first bite of ice cream, and Steven and Greg informed her about brain freeze.

“I’ve done it, I’ve decided, I’ve made my choice,” The Rose Quartz announced. “My name is going to be Strawberry!”

* * *

“I’m sorry I was making you uncomfortable before.”

“Huh?” Steven had been busy wiping an ice cream stain off of his shirt that he inevitably dirtied. Funland would do that to a man. His dad was walking on ahead, and Steven decided to give him some space after the day’s events.

“When we had first met. I didn’t realize that we - Rose Quartzes - could be bothering you, even though we were bothered about Pink too.”

“Hey, it’s okay, I didn’t -”

“And I was just so excited,” Strawberry continued. She tossed the last of her waffle cone into her mouth. “You’re legendary. The whole universe knows your name.” The way she said it was very matter-of-fact.

“Yeah.” Steven felt himself slouch for some reason.

“But you’re more than the legend!” She said. “I mean, you’re as cool and kind as people say you are, but you’re also _you_. Like, Pink messed up all of us, kind of. And that includes you. You’re not some distant hero. You’re one of us.”

“Us?” He chewed the inside of his cheek.

“I mean - agh, words are hard!” She opened up her arms. “I guess what I’m trying to say is…” Slowly, she came to a stop. Greg, oblivious, kept walking along up ahead.

Bewildered, Steven stopped too. The sound of his sandals on the boardwalk quieted. Dusk surrounded them both. “What is it, Strawberry?”

She dropped the purple dog to the ground, turned around, and pulled Steven into a tight hug. Her arms were pushed flush against Steven’s back. In his shock, it took him a second to reciprocate, but he eventually returned the embrace despite the awkward height difference. “You were right about how similar we are.” She murmured. She squeezed him tight, and then seemed to realize something and let go. “Sorry,” she smiled sheepishly, falling into a crouch to speak to him face-to-face. “I probably shouldn’t mess around with you. I just forget you’re organic!”

“It’s okay, only half-organic,” Steven reassured. “I didn’t really like the whole ‘picking me up and waving me around’ thing you did last time we met, but hugs are a-okay.”

“Oh, awesome, I was worried!” A brief grin crossed her face. “But I wanna say, we should’ve been smarter about meeting you. We knew your mom looked like us, and we knew that we were bubbled for that. If _we_ were struggling with that, of course _you_ were too! Sorry for treating you like you didn’t… what’re the words? Have feelings?”

“Aww, Strawberry…” Steven gave a small smile. “I really appreciate that. It was a little hard meeting you and the other Rose Quartzes at first. It’s still a little hard, actually. But we’re all learning.” He placed a welcoming hand on her shoulder. “It’s not your fault - we both were off the first time we met each other. I’m always up for trying again.”

She mirrored his smile, hopeful and cheerful.

“Friends?” Steven offered.

“Not just friends!” Strawberry amended. “Rosebuds!”

* * *

“So, what’d you think?”

Greg poked at the mountain of toppings on his pizza with a fork. The relatively short excursion actually exhausted both him and Steven. They were unwinding and debriefing at Fish Stew Pizza, but neither of them were particularly in a hurry to scarf down their meals.

“I dunno,” Greg responded. “Strawberry seems nice. And you two seem like you bonded, which is good!”

“Yeah,” Steven said, “I guess we did. How’d you know?”

“Well, I saw you having a little Gem buds chat back on the boardwalk and figured it was important,” Greg said.

“W-What?” He didn’t want his dad to be left out of this, that was the opposite of what Steven had wanted for this trip. “That wasn’t a Gem thing. Well, I guess it kinda was. But it was more about people-y feelings. That’s not Gem-exclusive.”

“It’s alright, Stu-ball, I understand that some parts of your world aren’t going to align with mine. But I’m still cheering you on every step of the way.”

“No!” Steven dropped his pizza onto a paper plate that seemed way weaker than necessary to support its force. “The whole point is I don’t _want_ our families to be separate! You’re part of the Crystal Gem family too! And I want you to be part of the family I’m making out of mom’s mistakes!”

Deafening silence. A few patrons had turned to look at their table. A pin drop could be heard.

Steven wasn’t pink. He was just regular human angry. Sweating, red-faced, and frustrated. Realizing that he was standing, he sat back down and muttered a ‘sorry.’

His dad looked shocked.

“I want to know how _you_ did with today. She was really nice to both of us and I thought we had fun.” Steven said, deliberately calm.

“Steven… We _did_ have fun!” His dad put down his plasticware. “Some part of her still reminds me so much of your mom. But she’s also her own person, and it was sweet to get to know another Gem that has a lot of growing to do.” Greg looked down at his plate. “I had no idea that you felt that way about this. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too. I’m sorry for yelling.” Steven was suddenly hungry. He took a small bite of his heavy slice of pizza. “I don’t want to get to know the Rose Quartzes without you. We’re a family, and I’m not leaving you behind with this.”

Greg rubbed his bearded chin. “I can’t promise that I’ll be comfortable the whole time.”

“That’s okay. I’m awkward too. We can be awkward Quartz-Universes together.”

“Alright, Steven.” Greg smiled. He held up a closed fist for a fist-bump. “Quartz-Universes?”

Steven reciprocated. "Quartz-Universes."


	3. Skeeball

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hippie rose appears!

The Arcade seemed to be a good place to meet this Rose Quartz.

When Steven and Greg arrived, the Quartz they were looking for was languidly playing a slow-paced level of Meat Beat Mania. She swayed freely to the calm beat, using the rhythm more as a guideline than a hard rule. It didn’t seem she cared much about the game’s points system. Her cotton-candy hair swayed in Steven’s vision, and he swallowed.

“Hi, Rose Quartz!” Steven called, managing confidence. His dad followed behind as he approached the Gem.

Hearing her name, she turned around with a light smile. Behind her, the points on the screen began to lower since she just left the game running without her inputs, having dropped the meat-shaped controllers on the ground. “Oh, hey, Steven!” She was clearly so laid-back that if Gems could actually be affected by human drugs, Steven would be concerned. As it were, though, that was just her personality, which was neat. Must be nice. “And this is your Greg Dad, right?”

“Well, technically both of those titles are true,” Greg shrugged.

Steven backtracked. “Yeah, he is, but he’s not _mine_. I don’t own him. Uh, no one owns anyone. He’s just my dad.”

Rose Quartz blinked.

“Just call me Greg,” Greg helpfully chimed in.

Her face fell into understanding at that. “Oh, sure. Nice to meet you. You’re the one that ran out when we were eating Earth stuff, right?” The sentence seemed to have the vocabulary of an accusation, but her delivery made it clear that she didn’t actually have a problem with it - she was just stating a fact.

“Oh, yeah, that might’ve been me.” Greg rubbed his neck sheepishly. “Sorry about that.”

She rested a hand on his dad’s bare shoulder. Steven watched on in confused horror. Discomfort suddenly twisted up his insides.

“No worries. I like that you just do what you want,” Rose said, eyes gleaming.

A slap echoed. Greg had smacked her hand off of him.

The Rose Quartz looked at her hand with more curiosity than hurt.

The scene snapped back to Steven. This wasn’t Rose, this was a Rose. This wasn’t mom, this was a Gem. This wasn’t a past he never saw. It was a future he wanted to cultivate. He could see something similar travel through his dad’s eyes.

Greg remembered himself. “Gah - sorry. I don’t like being touched?” He shrugged.

“Oh. Sorry. I get it.”

Something within Steven started to crumble. This was not how this was supposed to begin. They were supposed to have a fun time at the arcade, not a weird interaction that threatened to send both him and his dad spiraling. “Uhhh, hey Rose Quartz, you like Meat Beat Mania?” He pointed at the arcade cabinet that was still pumping out tunes, trying to keep the pink flush of his skin from breaking out into a full-on episode.

“Oh, is that what this thing’s called?” She looked back at the game. “I can’t read that. I was just dancing to the music.” She turned back to her companions. “Is music just an Earth thing? ‘Cause if that’s the case, I never wanna leave.”

That’s right. This Gem didn’t get to experience much of Earth _or_ Homeworld before she was bubbled. Steven rushed to fill in, his heated pigment fading as he fell back on safer conversation. “No, Gems have it too! Though before Era 3 I think it was more to entertain elites than anything else. But now a lot of Gems make it however they want to!”

“However they want? I like the sound of that.”

Greg subconsciously wiped his hands down the side of his pants. “You two wanna try to find a game to play?”

Steven jumped at the opportunity.

* * *

Skeeball was not coming naturally to this Quartz. She was calm about it the entire time, though. Her underhand tosses weren’t proving to be much use, and her overhand tosses were strong enough to possibly break through the skeeball machine, so they had to put a stop to that pretty quick.

“Why don’t we just…” She began to climb up the game set, crouching her tall form so that she could properly saddle the circular goals at the top. Light pink strands of projected hair fluffed out by her shoulders.

“Uhh, I don’t really want to get banned from the arcade again,” Greg pleaded nervously.

“Well, me and Amethyst do this all the time, and Mr. Smiley doesn’t get mad at us anymore,” Steven shrugged.

“I think that’s because you broke that man,” Greg groaned.

Having made a decision, Steven hoisted himself up onto the adjacent skeeball machine with a supply of balls in hand. “Ready?” He asked her.

“As I’ll ever be.”

“Okayyy, go!”

Together they chucked endless balls down the 100-point chute, forcing the machine to churn out piles upon piles of tickets. In the back of his mind Steven made sure to remember to bring some to Strawberry later. She might like that.

“I have this - uh - big sister that I think you’ll really like, Rose Quartz. Her name’s Amethyst.” Steven tossed the last of his skeeballs into the machine and dusted off his hands. He slid off and landed back down on the ground.

“The short Amethyst? I think I saw her with the Famethyst a few times. She’s got sick hair.” She lazily tossed her own mane over her shoulder. “So do you, Greg.”

Greg resolutely did not blush. “Thanks!” He managed. “I know Gems don’t grow their hair, but yours is pretty impressive too, uh, Rose Quartz.” The name, as always, was slightly grating no matter who was using it at the time.

Steven clapped his hands together. “That reminds me! Rose, you need a nickname, and I think I have just the one!”

“A nickname?” She clambored off of the skeeball machine and put a hand on her hip, eyebrows raised. “Whatcha got?”

With a deep philosophical breath, Steven enunciated, “ _Skeeball_.”

The Rose Quartz’s eyes widened. Then her mouth squirmed. Then, she burst out laughing.

Steven’s heart fell into his feet. Oh man.

“Skeeball! I love that! It’s cute.” She calmed down and pushed her fringe out of her face. “Not for me, though.”

“What _is_ for you, then, Rose?” Greg asked. He was busy scraping all the tickets off the floor and trying to avoid getting spotted by Mr. Smiley.

“I don’t think I need a nickname,” she shrugged.

Oh.

Faintly, Steven conjured a response. “What?”

“I like my name the way that it is. It’s pretty. Rose Quartz just feels… right.”

People were starting to gather, trying to get past the three of them and get access to the game machines. Steven ushered all three of them out of the way of the skeeball cabinets and into a semi-private corner that held hard plastic chairs and tables. Greg was tailed by a trail of tickets, miraculously losing only some of them while being tugged over by Steven. The orange dots of paper were stark against the dark carpet pattern. Suddenly things seemed to feel wrong.

“But don’t you want to differentiate yourself from your friends?” Steven tried. He had no idea why he was clinging to this, but he wanted to. He had to.

“I don’t need to. My friends know who I am. You gotta realize I’m a pretty distinct cut of Rose, so I don’t have a ton of copycats around sharing my look,” she explained. “I like the simplicity of my name.”

“But -” Steven began.

“Why do I have to change it for you?” There wasn’t even a hint of anger, just slight frustration. “Is it ‘cause I have Rose Quartz’s name? Well, she had mine. I have the right to hold on to it. I was born with it, after all. She just borrowed it.”

Why was this even making Steven angry?! He didn’t get it. For some reason he wanted to defend his mom. He wanted to defend Rose Quartz, but not Pink. “I- I-” He rubbed his arms. He didn’t want people to make him be Rose Quartz. This Rose probably doesn’t want a different identity forced on her, either. With a sigh, he pushed everything away. His mom wasn’t here. This Rose was. “I’m sorry, Rose. I was thinking too much about what I wanted and I didn’t think about what _you_ would want.”

Rose Quartz’s face softened.

“Steven -” Greg started, about to drop his mountain of tickets in case his son needed some emotional support.

“No, it’s okay,” he assured. “You can obviously call yourself anything you want. It’s not up to me. It’s not up to anyone but you.” He looked up at her with a hesitant smile. “It’s what you want.”

Her lips curved gently upwards. “I know,” she said, not unkindly. “Thanks, Steven. This whole Rose thing is hard for all of us,” she shrugged. “I just wanna know what I’m gonna do as one, you know? I wanna show that there’s more than one Rose Quartz.”

“I get that, actually.” He understood the desire to solidify one’s unique identity pretty well. “Wanna hug?”

“Psh, you really are the hugger they say you are.” She opened up one arm. “Side hug, bro.”

“Aw yeah.” Steven slid in and squeezed her tight with one arm. “Thanks.”

“Thanks to you too.”

When they split, Steven checked the time. Still some time left in the day. “Wanna play more games?” He offered.

“Actually, why don’t we go eat something? I wanna try this food thing again.”

“Oh dad, can we go get food?” Steven turned to his dad.

“Sure, I’m getting a bit hungry myself.”

Steven and Rose began to talk about Earth food. Greg set the pile of tickets down on one of the plastic arcade tables. Someone would really enjoy coming across those.

* * *

Rose Quartz’s plate just had a stick of butter on it. “Nice,” she said.

The server looked concerned, but said nothing as he left to tend to other tables.

“Good thing you’re not human. That’s a lot of butter for us squishy organics,” Greg said.

“Really?” Rose asked. “Don’t you guys usually have, like, plates full of different foods and eat multiple times a day?”

“Well, we can’t really eat just anything.” Greg twined some spaghetti around his fork. “Or else we don’t get the nutrients our bodies need to continue existing.”

“Yeah,” Steven chimed. “We have to eat things that our bodies agree with or we’ll start to have health problems.”

“Glad Gems don’t have ‘health problems,’ whatever those are.” She then picked up the stick of butter with one hand, examined it, and promptly put the whole thing in her mouth.

Greg couldn’t help his wheezy laughter. He slapped his hand on the table. At that, Steven swallowed his bite of food and started laughing too.

“If you were Amethyst, you’d follow that up by eating the plate too,” Steven said, unable to contain his laughter as he said it.

“Oh, you can do that?”

Greg stopped laughing. “Rose, no -”

* * *

“It was one plate and a fork, so they weren’t too mad. They insisted that I didn’t have to pay them for it. I guess this sort of thing is happening more often with Gems getting more involved in Earth culture.” Greg tucked his wallet in the pocket of his jeans. “I still gave them money though. I felt kinda bad.”

“The plate didn’t even taste like anything. Lame,” Rose Quartz said. She sat on the street curb with Steven, but since she was taller and larger than most humans, she looked like she was too big to do that sort of thing. “Was it a Greg’s original purpose to pay money to get his kid out of trouble?” She asked. It was probably a joke, but it was hard to tell these things with some Gems.

Greg plopped down on the curb with her and Steven. Above them all, the stars began to twinkle in the twilight. Beach City was heading to bed soon. Street lamps began to flicker on. “Ha, I would pay Steven’s bail to get him out of _prison_.” His mirth turned serious. “Don’t go to prison, though.”

Steven lightly laughed. “I know, dad.”

Greg smiled at that. He looked up to the sky. “I like to think that a Greg like me doesn’t have an ingrained purpose. Just floating around, doing whatever.” He gestured outwards to the appearing stars. “And taking care of his family. Of Steven and the Crystal Gems.” He leaned back and looked up at the sky. “That’s my purpose right now, anyways.”

“That’s pretty sweet.” Rose looked at the sky too. In the light of the nearby street lamps she looked young. She probably was. Not that she was just born, but she spent most of her existence poofed in a bubble and was just recently let out to explore. “What’s your purpose, Steven?”

That question dropped on Steven like a bomb. “Uhhh. Help people, I guess. And… and run Little Homeschool?” He stammered. What was his purpose? “Your purpose can be hard to figure out.” He sweated.

“Seems legit.”

The sky began to darken into deep blue around them. Nearby, the restaurant they had been politely kicked out of began to quiet down. A nighttime chill breezed through. It was peaceful.

“Okay, this concrete’s making my butt cold,” Greg finally sighed, “and I can’t sit here too much longer or my back’s gonna lock up. Let’s go, kiddos.”

Together, the three of them took to the sidewalk. Rose Quartz scooped Steven up on her shoulders (“I heard of this piggyback ride thing from your Amethyst once, I wanna try it”) and even though that would usually rub Steven the wrong way - he wasn’t a kid anymore - somehow he didn’t mind it. The twilight darkened around them, and the three of them chatted on their way to the nearest warp to send Rose home.

This was awkward and difficult, as expected. But at the end of the day, Steven felt _okay_.

* * *

The cold metal of the van chilled Steven’s limbs. He was sprawled out beside his dad, eyes shut. Faint, soft twangs of his dad’s guitar played out in the enclosed space. The tune wasn’t really going anywhere, just meandering wherever it pleased.

“How was today, dad?” Steven mumbled. He was sleepy, and it was late. Usually he would be reviewing his schedule right now and getting ready for bed, but this was important, and he had blocked time out of his schedule for these Rose visits anyways.

The sound of fingers on guitar strings paused, but soon kept going in a thoughtful whisper. “She reminded me of Amethyst a bit,” Greg chuckled.

“Haha, yeah.”

“I also really respect her choice to keep her name,” he continued with slow consideration. “Why fix what isn’t broken?”

Steven rested his hands fitfully above his stomach. “Some people could argue that it is broken. The name really brings stuff out of people.”

“Well, maybe it’s time for a change.” The notes stopped.

The van was hard against Steven’s head. He blinked up at the ceiling. “Are you okay?”

A faint sound. Fingers bumping into the strings. Greg plucking a string, and twisting the tuning pegs to make the sound land somewhere else. “I think so. It’s a lot, but yeah. And I guess I find myself protective of these Gems in particular because they look so much like your mom,” Greg said quietly. “But yeah, I’m alright, Steven. Are you?”

Steven shut his eyes. “Yeah, dad. I’m okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> u kno who's up next..
> 
> thanks for reading <3


	4. The Waves

Funland rides or the arcade both seemed too loud to suit the third Quartz. Steven didn’t actually know what she would like, to be honest. So him and his dad did the best they could and decided to just try something calm.

And of course his stomach was knotting itself into bows at the thought of spending extended time alone with someone that looked so much like _her_ , but it would be fine! Right? Of course it would.

Steven swallowed and readjusted his t-shirt even though there was nothing wrong with it. The cruise ship was supposed to drop her off any second now. The sand was familiar under his sandals as always, but the shifting ground beneath him wasn’t as comforting as usual. “Hey, dad, you good?”

His dad was watching the afternoon sun bounce off the waves, very far away from here. “Huh?”

“I asked how you’re doing.”

Greg turned to him. “I’m fine, kiddo! Really, don’t worry about me.” He gave Steven the same reassuring smile he always did. It didn’t do much for Steven this time around.

Particles of sand began to drift sideways, and then twirl around a great pocket of displaced air. Steven and Greg watched as the massive zoo ship descended easily into the cradle of the beach. The landing pod flattened out, and a pink figure took a few quiet steps onto the sand, giant rosy curls bouncing behind her. That hair pushed pink blush to the surface of Steven’s skin in a second.

“Whoa, Steven, you alright?” Greg put a hand on his son’s shoulder. “We don’t have to do this.”

“No, no, it’s fine.” Steven clenched his fists silently, trying to find some way to calm the reactionary storm that had erupted within him. A few deep breaths bled the pink away through sheer will. He didn’t want to scare anyone. He didn’t want to hurt them.

She was walking towards them, her warrior figure a stark pink against the pale of the beach. She was _Rose Quartz_ , but not. Her image was stolen and that fact would probably follow her forever.

Steven mustered up a smile for this friend.

“Hi, Rose Quartz,” he greeted her with a tired sort of warmth. A kinship.

“Hello, Steven,” she returned. Like last time he saw her, her face was careful and searching. Observing.

“This is my dad, Greg Universe,” Steven said, because his dad was apparently not going to introduce himself. All Greg had was a nervous smile on his face in greeting.

“Hello, Greg.”

“Hi,” Greg tried, and that seemed to dislodge something in him. “Uh, Steven and I thought just… hanging out on the beach might be nice? Unless you wanna go into town and try some human stuff…”

“The beach is fine, thank you.” She cast a glance towards the populated, restaurant-laden boardwalk without even a hint of curiosity. Human stuff must not be her style.

“Okay, cool.”

Steven felt an urge to grab this Rose Quartz’s hand to get them all to start walking, but he kept his hands in his pockets. This wasn’t like how he brute-forced his friendship with Peridot and made her hold hands with him in the Kindergarten. This wasn’t anything like that. This was more delicate.

Instead, they wordlessly all started walking together.

“Thank you for inviting me,” Rose Quartz decided to say, after some quiet moments.

Steven was surprised that she even spoke first. “O-Of course,” he replied. “When I said we should keep in touch, I meant it. Have you ever seen the ocean? Up close, I mean?”

“I saw it from your… house?” She stumbled over the foreign word. “But not any closer than that, no.”

Warm afternoon air brushed against Steven’s skin, and it gave him an idea. He slowed to a stop, hands on his hips. “Huh. Why don’t we go check it out?”

“Oh jeez, we didn’t bring swim shorts…” Greg pondered for a second. “Eh, who cares? We can just wash our clothes after.” He kicked off his sandals.

“I’ve never touched water before.” She sounded unsure as they all padded closer to the line where waves meet sand. “Is it… good?”

“On a hot day like this one? For humans, it feels pretty nice,” Steven supplied. “I still feel the heat too, but I don’t get as warm anymore.” He took off his own sandals and placed them on the beach in a practiced manner, knowing just how far off he needed to put them so that the waves didn’t steal them away. A smile even tugged at his lips. This wasn’t so bad. He could do this.

“Are you coming?” Steven asked Rose Quartz. She hesitated.

“Isn’t there a pool in that big ol’ ship?” Greg added. “You’ve never been in there?”

“I saw other Gems go in the water there, but I never did it myself.”

Steven paused, swallowed, and held out his hand towards her. “We can go in together, if you want. No pressure.”

Rose Quartz looked to his hand, then to his eyes. For a moment nothing on the beach moved except for the ocean and the wind. Eventually she reached out too, and took his hand - Gem form against hybrid skin. Together they took small steps towards the inching, frothy waters.

A reassuring hand rested on Steven’s back for a split second, and Steven turned to his dad with a grateful smile. “I’ll wade on ahead, okay?” Greg told them, and then did exactly that, water immediately sloshing around his ankles.

“Okay, here we go,” Steven said. Cold ocean water hit their toes. Rose Quartz made some kind of inhuman noise of surprise, but kept going. A strong wave rolled into their legs, then, engulfing their legs up to their knees. Steven skidded on the uneven sands and Rose Quartz almost fell from the unfamiliar sensation of water separating her feet from the ground, but they both kept steadying palms on each other’s backs.

“Huh. This feels… new,” She commented.

“It’s cool, right?” Steven laughed as the water pushed them around. “I dunno if you can swim or not - I’m not sure what decides how some Gems react to water? Rubies can walk to the bottom of the ocean if they need to. But we don’t have to swim to enjoy the ocean.”

“Swim?”

Steven pointed further out to where his dad floated in the water, doing lazy backstrokes. “What he’s doing.”

She watched Greg carefully. “What do you do in water if you don’t swim?”

“Uh, hm. There’s a lot of stuff, but right now I’m just thinking of things that need pool toys.”

“Wait - on the ship I always see humans do this…” Rose Quartz entered a slight crouch and peered at the murky water.

“Do what?”

The shock of cold wetness startled Steven - salty sea water splashed in his face. Droplets rolled down and soaked his shirt. “Hey!” He laughed. He rubbed his eyes free of water and opened them to Rose Quartz’s wet hand hovering above the ocean surface. Gears were turning in her head as she examined her hand and the water and Steven’s ruined shirt and wet hair. A miniscule smile transformed her face. For the first time, she looked… carefree.

Steven laughed. The water around them rocked gently against the beach. He quickly skidded the top of the waves with his hand, and water flew up, hitting her chin and neck. She blinked in good-natured surprise. “Wha - oh, I’ll get you,” she said, and it was the first time Steven had heard a laugh in her voice.

Together they patted the water like children, giddy and silly, splashing each other and soaking Steven’s clothes. It was simple fun. Something necessary.

“Wait, hold on -” Steven pushed his hands below water and formed a weak bubble. He guided it upwards, and its pink hull breached the surface. It was full of seawater. “This is like water balloons, but better!” He chucked it at Rose Quartz and it smacked her in the chest, popping and coating her in water.

She burst out laughing and squeaked out the question, “What is a water balloon?" and Steven couldn’t help his smile at that. He laughed too, eyes shut in mirth.

Then her laughter stopped. Her shy tone returned. “Greg, are you alright?”

Steven opened his eyes. His dad was some yards away, treading water with wide eyes, looking right at them. The sunlight caught the tears threatening to fall down his cheeks. All of a sudden, he swam towards shore. “Sorry, guys, I just - need some air,” he said, and then he was gone, walking barefoot along the beach away from them, leaving his sandals behind.

A simple “oh” left Rose Quartz.

Queasiness twisted in Steven’s stomach. “Let’s take a break.”

They sat down on the sand and watched the water dance. They were both damp. Sand clung to Steven’s skin and his clothes would need a washing. Rose Quartz didn’t seem to notice the sand particles that stuck where water had soaked her form.

“I knew this would be a bad idea,” she said with resignation. Understanding.

“No!” Steven turned to her. “No, it’s - I mean, it’s not _okay_ , but…” He rubbed his arm. “My dad and I knew that meeting -” other - real - different - “Rose Quartzes would be a little rough. Please don’t blame yourself.”

“I know it’s not my fault,” she pushed out.

Steven watched tense emotion flit across her face and move her arms to encircle around her knees.

“Reasonably. I know that I didn’t do this,” she continued. “I didn’t hurt you and I didn’t hurt your - Greg.”

“And it’s not your responsibility to fix it,” Steven urged.

“Then why do I still feel horrible? Just the sight of me is a painful memory to so many.” She sighed and looked down at the wet, packed sand beneath them. “It’s terrible, to know that everyone looks at you and sees someone else.”

Steven reached around and tried his best to spread his arms around her - around his sibling. His hands didn’t meet but that was okay. He hugged her large form to himself. “I know the feeling,” he choked out, and then he was crying.

“This - this thing you’re doing, crying, it’s bad, right? What should I -” her panicked voice was cut off by Steven simply squeezing her tighter, and wet tears pooled in her eyes too. She maneuvered her arms to return the embrace and rested her young head on his shoulder. “I’ve never cried before,” she admitted through tears.

“I’ve been doing it a lot recently.”

“Are you alright?”

“I don’t know.” The onslaught of tears slowed. “Being a reminder to people is - it’s terrible. They don’t see you for you. They only see what you remind them of.”

“So Greg…” she fell silent.

“He didn’t mean to. It’s just hard.” He pulled away to see her face. “But that doesn’t mean you don’t get affected too.”

“How does it affect you?” She asked.

“Oh man.” Steven laughed weakly. “That’s a big question. People call me a name that isn’t mine. They have expectations of me and I could never reach them.” There was more, but he wasn't willing to dig into the wound. He settled on, “It’s a lot.”

“It is.” She retreated again, into that silence that she displayed for most of her first visit. “Sometimes I wish I wasn't made into a Rose Quartz.”

“Hey, me too.” He gave her a lopsided smile. “But at least we have each other. And you can always change your name. If you don’t want to be known as Rose Quartz, you can choose to be someone else.”

“But it won’t change my gem.” She sighed.

He shrugged. “So what? I know that -” mom-Pink-Rose - “Pink Diamond decided to become someone else. She changed herself and took on a whole new identity.” He dug his fingernails into his palms to keep his inherited pink at bay. “It’s not impossible.”

“That is true. I don’t know what else I would be, though.” She tightened in on herself. “I don’t want any name at all. Not Rose Quartz, not anything. I’ll have to think about it.”

“Well, I’m sure your friends back on the ship will be okay with anything you want to try out. And if they’re not, they aren’t your friends.”

“But I know so many Rose Quartzes back there that are proud to be Rose Quartz. They find it honorable. Or they enjoy being tangentially related to a Diamond. Or they change their name but don’t deny their typing. I know a similar cut that looks just like me, and she doesn’t mind it.”

“But none of those Gems are you.” Steven held out his grainy, damp palms and took her hands into his own. “You can reinvent yourself.”

She stared at their hands, pale pink and human skin. A quiet moment passed. “Thank you, Steven.” Her small smile returned, open and seen.

Steven smiled back. “Thank _you_.”


End file.
